The Swirl

Ep. 9

When Mabea got out of the campus, she walked all the way to her office and found most of the people having already gone home. She had a few things to take care of and she'd be leaving late what with the workload she wanted to complete.

It had been a couple of weeks since she last saw Hiroto and they occasionally saw each other but she ignored him. Whenever Mabea's mind strayed to the day they fought, she always had to calm herself down and breathe. The project on which they had been working, Mabea had been taken off after her disciplinary hearing which meant that she wouldn't get to see Hiroto and he wouldn't get to see her. It was frustrating.

She was just halfway through the load when something clattered to the floor in the hallway. She tensed and froze in her seat, listening intently because she was supposed to be the only person in the building.

What happened next was all a blur. Her door flew open and ricocheted off the wall then a man who had a balaclava on burst in, his gun aimed at her.

"Where is the Japanese project contract?!" he yelled at her as she cowered in her chair, too shocked to even move any farther.

"I don't know, " she squeaked.

"Where is the damn Contract?!"

"I don't know! I'm not working on the project-"

The man came in and closed the door behind him. He gave Mabea a quick once over then his eyes crinkled at the corners, like he was smirking under his hat. Mabea's fear numbed a little when she saw that look and she eyed the heavy stapler that lay in the open shelf beside her.

The man walked over to the front of her desk, his gun still trained on her.

"Get up," he ordered her and she complied. His eyes roved over her body and she could picture the sly smirk underneath his balaclava. "Come closer, babe."

She hesitated and he fired a warning shot at the desk which was all Mabea needed. She jumped from her chair, grabbed the heavy stapler and flung it with all the strength she had at the man who ducked to the floor as the stapler scraped the wall, ripping a small chunk out. Mabea leapt towards the door, barefooted, and yanked it open, flinging herself out and running down the hallway like a marathon runner. Her life depended on it!

She made it to the elevator and quickly and frantically pressed the buttons before the doors opened and she jumped in just as the man rounded the corner, firing into the closing elevator. She flung herself to One side of the wall and the bullet missed her by an inch as she fell to the floor and twisted her leg. the elevator made its way downwards.

She remembered that she had left everything of hers in the office which meant that she didn't have any money to catch a taxi or a phone to call. She limped out of the building as fast as she could and made it to the security booth at the gate. There was no one there so she let herself in and grabbed the desk phone. Her brother answered immediately and he told her to find a bush and hide before he came. The intruder was nowhere to be seen.

A while later, a red kombi stopped at the gate and her brother came out, frantically looking for her. She knew he'd make a plan and she ran to him,  getting into the car before the girl drove off.

The girl?!

Mabea looked at the person in the driver's seat and realised it was Nthabi who was still in her pyjamas and with disheveled hair. She looked at her brother who only shrugged. Nthabi dropped them off and they sat down in the sitting room.

"You wanna talk about it?" Oratile asked. Mama was still asleep in the bedroom.

"Maybe some other time. I'm cramping up from running." She groaned from the extreme pain of her muscles suddenly tightening excruciatingly.